Minjee Lee leads rain-delayed Women’s Scottish Open with opening time of 67

IRVINE, Scotland — Two-time major champion Minjee Lee of Australia braved a strong wind and enjoyed rare sunshine in a wet Scottish summer on Thursday to shoot 5-under 67 to open a one-stroke lead in the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open before play was halted for the day.

Lydia Ko, fresh from her Olympic gold medal that earned her induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame, battled the worst weather conditions at Dundonald Links and made five birdies in her round of 69.

Former US Women’s Open champion A Lim Kim and American Megan Khang were 68 years old.

The opening round was suspended due to bad weather and flooding on the course. Lily May Humphreys of England was at 4 under with six holes to go. Play was stopped for about an hour at the start due to rain and there was a further delay of 2 hours and 20 minutes due to weather.

Lee is coming off a disappointing Olympics outside Paris, where she was never in contention and eventually finished tied for 22nd. She played bogey-free on a tough course, birdieing both par 5s on the back nine.

“Always a happy girl after a bogey-free round,” Lee said. “I feel like I played smart, I would say. I gave myself a lot of opportunities for birdies. I feel like when I was in trouble, I missed the ball in the right spots and I was able to get up and down, so that was good.”

Lee thinks she had a break because she wasn’t bothered by the rain as much, although she couldn’t escape the strong wind.

Ko had the hardest time: she described the weather as so chaotic that she was too busy to really get stressed about it.

“If it’s just windy, it’s fine. But it was windy and rainy,” Ko said. “It’s tricky when you have to hold the umbrella sideways and not up. I’m pretty sure it’s built to hold it vertically. So it’s just really tricky out there.”

Ko managed to score a 69 despite only making one birdie on the par 5s. With the wind direction, both par 5s on the front were achievable. Still, she had no complaints considering the weather.

“That’s just part of the experience of coming here. If you don’t like it, you’re probably not going to play as well,” Ko said. “So it’s more about grinding it out and knowing that sometimes you’re not going to be on the fairer side of the draw. But that’s also part of playing tournaments in this part of the world.”

Charley Hull of England was battling for the lead until a bogey on the par-5 14th slowed her momentum. She finished in a group of 70 with Esther Henseleit of Germany, who won the silver medal at the Paris Games.

The tournament is the final stop before the Women’s British Open next week in St Andrews.

More from Sportsnet

Canada’s Stephen Ames is hoping for a successful year at the Rogers Charity Classic

Canadian Mike Weir feels ‘rested and ready’ for Rogers Charity Classic